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Gas smell from water heater

09-21-2013, 06:07 AM

There is a water heater located in a small room and if the door is closed the room fills up with the smell of gas, but if the door is open there is no smell. Supposedly from what I was told it is a venting problem due to not regular usage of hot water.

Can someone tell me if this is a legit answer, or if it's a BS story I'm being told?

unburnt gas is usually the result of a leak, not a lack of combustion. Leak test using soapy water in a spray bottle all gas line joints, also test the main burner pipe when the heater is operating, test the pilot tube (if applicable) when it is lit but not running.

On a very small leak (with he door shut you could be smelling a build up of gas) when open it may be dissipating so you can not smell it, and it could be venting problem or a down draft situation,

most gas companies will do free leak detection, (at least in our area).

Push sticks/blocks Save Fingers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
attributed to Samuel Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PUBLIC NOTICE: Due to recent budget cuts, the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil...plus the current state of the economy............the light at the end of the tunnel, has been turned off.

Comment

In this small room is there a source of combustion air when the door is closed?
Mechanical code has requirements for make up air in these situations, something
the average DIY is usually not aware of.

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our fathers did for us."
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

Comment

if it is a gas smell and not burnt gas smell, then it is a leak, I had a tube to the pilot light leaking and was hard to find because I did not think of looking there, the other day found on a union that was very small leak, I have even had cast fittings that micro holes in the casting and leaking,

Push sticks/blocks Save Fingers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good."
attributed to Samuel Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PUBLIC NOTICE: Due to recent budget cuts, the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil...plus the current state of the economy............the light at the end of the tunnel, has been turned off.

Comment

It is definitely a gas smell. Forgot to mention... that supposedly no one can find a leak. So does that mean it is coming down from the flue?

Then its time to start leak checking with some soapy water or commercial leak checker. start at the appliance and work your way back. don't stop at the first leak found, there may be more than one.

as was already said the gas company should be able to locate this for you, and fix it if you wish. but there is the possibility they may turn off the gas until it is fixed.
that's a small price to pay to prevent a BLEVE.

BLEVE = Blast Leveling Everything Very Effectively

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our fathers did for us."
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

Comment

Then its time to start leak checking with some soapy water or commercial leak checker. start at the appliance and work your way back. don't stop at the first leak found, there may be more than one.

as was already said the gas company should be able to locate this for you, and fix it if you wish. but there is the possibility they may turn off the gas until it is fixed.
that's a small price to pay to prevent a BLEVE.

BLEVE = Blast Leveling Everything Very Effectively

Actually a BLEVE wouldn't bother me a bit, because my boss refuses to do anything about the leak. I can't do anything more. I've done my part in trying to get him to fix it and he refuses, he just makes up BS excuses as to why there is a gas smell.

Comment

OK so now we've moved from someone asking a question as to if they are being told the truth to a disagreement between an employer and their employee working on a customers home. Were you called in to repair this leak or did you just come across it while doing other work? Does the HO know of the leak?

How can you (the company which is composed of both employer and employees) walk away KNOWING you left a leak behind??

If there was a fire or explosion or anything else to which that leak have been a contributor don't you think the HO will be pointing the finger at you (the company). And if not directly, you can bet a comment like "they told me there was a leak but they couldn't find it and said not to worry about it".

Yeah, you'll do fine in court, just take the 5th.

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our fathers did for us."
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

Comment

How spooky this is. Got a mate who did a gas job a week back. when he put a pressure test on the line found leak. Gal pipe, several fittings. Reckons total ***** to fix. Recommended flog out gal and replace with copper. HO off her head, don't have money, are you sure, what am I going to do.....bla bla bla. So anyhow he tested his work and turned meter off as not legally allowed to do anything other than that down here. Wrote up the whole job and sent copy to HO so that it is in writing to hopefully indemnify. Amazes me that priorities are so screwed up. You get wet with water but you get dead with gas explosion.

Comment

OK so now we've moved from someone asking a question as to if they are being told the truth to a disagreement between an employer and their employee working on a customers home.

Sorry if there was confusion with my question, but no where did I say we were working on a customers home. The leak in question is in the place I work. All I was saying was maybe if there was a BLEVE the person at the very top would finally see that my boss is not the good boss they think he is. He fails to take care of what really matters.

Sorry if there was confusion with my question, but no where did I say we were working on a customers home. The leak in question is in the place I work. All I was saying was maybe if there was a BLEVE the person at the very top would finally see that my boss is not the good boss they think he is. He fails to take care of what really matters.

I had a boss/hack like that once. Once a hack, always a hack. He will never care.

Here it is up to the tech to do the right thing - you must inform the proper authority - in this case, the gas company, so they can resolve the issue. Anyone would do the same if it was a cross-contamination problem with city water, so why is gas any different?

~~

... it was plumbed by Ray Charles and his helper Stevie Wonder

Comment

Sorry if there was confusion with my question, but no where did I say we were working on a customers home. The leak in question is in the place I work. All I was saying was maybe if there was a BLEVE the person at the very top would finally see that my boss is not the good boss they think he is. He fails to take care of what really matters.

True, you did not say that, and from the way it was worded that was an assumption on my part. It's too easy to misinterpret something someone writes. I know I screw things up some times when I write them here. I go back and clarify my meaning when I catch it not being what I meant to say. When you are writing it seems so clear to you (me) because your thoughts are filling in the blanks that the next person doesn't have.

Anyway, leaving a leak in any situation is not good. Seems strange that your boss can't see that. Is there anyone else who knows of the condition so its not just your word against his?

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, "See! This our fathers did for us."
John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)

Comment

True, you did not say that, and from the way it was worded that was an assumption on my part. It's too easy to misinterpret something someone writes. I know I screw things up some times when I write them here. I go back and clarify my meaning when I catch it not being what I meant to say. When you are writing it seems so clear to you (me) because your thoughts are filling in the blanks that the next person doesn't have.

Anyway, leaving a leak in any situation is not good. Seems strange that your boss can't see that. Is there anyone else who knows of the condition so its not just your word against his?

No worries on the assumption. I just thought I should clarify before it got out of hand.

There is someone else, but they have failed to do anything about it too. There is another problem other than this gas leak that isn't being taken care of either by my boss that is probably just as dangerous as a gas leak.